MANILA – Negrense forward Jeffrei Chan’s service is doubtful when Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings target a 2-0 edge against Meralco Bolts in their 2020 Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Philippine Cup semifinals at the AUF Sports Arena and Cultural Center in Pampanga today.
The Bacolod City-native was held to four minutes of action in the Kings’ 96-79 Game 1 victory against the Bolts on Wednesday after aggravating his hamstring injury.
“Ayaw ko lang pilitin, tutal medyo mahaba-haba pa naman ‘yung series. Hopefully ma-shorten. Ayaw ko lang pilitin, ayaw ko lang ma-worsen siya,” said Chan.
“Siyempre biglaan ‘yung tournament, so lahat ng stress, (nag-accumulate na),” added the forward, saying he first felt the injury in their quarterfinal match against Rain or Shine Elasto Painters.
Kings head coach Tim Cone, for his part, also hopes that the injury of the former Far Eastern University Tamaraws gunner will not keep him out for the remainder of the playoffs.
“We don’t know how bad that is, but he couldn’t play anymore,” the 62-year-old mentor said. “Hopefully he could step up and get better by Game 2. We don’t know.”
The 37-year-old Chan, a former standout of University of St. La Salle in Bacolod City, was averaging 6.6 points, 2.4 rebounds and 2.4 assists for the Kings in the All-Filipino Conference./PN
